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Married Life

Play trailer Poster for Married Life PG-13 2008 1h 30m Crime Drama Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
56% Tomatometer 115 Reviews 36% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
After many years of marriage, Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) falls in love with lovely Kay Nesbitt (Rachel McAdams). Harry plots to kill his wife, Pat (Patricia Clarkson), because he feels divorce would be too hard on her. Meanwhile, his roguish best friend, Richard (Pierce Brosnan), is also in love with Kay and would like nothing better than to steal her out from under Harry's nose.
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Married Life

Married Life

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Critics Consensus

Married Life has excellent performances and flashes of dark wit, but it suffers from tonal shifts and uneven pacing.

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Critics Reviews

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Josh Rosenblatt Austin Chronicle 10/18/2008
3/5
One of the more ethically dubious films to come out of Hollywood in years. Go to Full Review
Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard 08/01/2008
2/5
It's a good cast, with Cooper outstanding, but Sachs's direction is stodgy and the screenplay is grindingly self-conscious. Go to Full Review
Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) 08/01/2008
The movie is determinedly low-key, but honest, with a wrenching break-up scene, sharp work from Clarkson, and a final thought that lingers, about never really knowing what your other half is thinking. Go to Full Review
Dan Sallitt Senses of Cinema 10/12/2018
Failing to orient itself in any way, it becomes a vacuum, a rote recitation of the mechanics of the murder plot. Go to Full Review
Laura Hiros Rincón de cine 03/22/2018
3/5
The United States' well-off middle class of the 1950s, its taboos, stereotypes and lifestyles, are reflected in this interesting and harsh film. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Fernando F. Croce CinePassion 08/27/2009
The roundelay structure and Hitchcockian nods could have easily given way to a sardonic puppet theater, but Sachs and screenwriter Oren Moverman care too much about their characters to turn them into pawns Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Alain E @AlainE Dec 30 This is a profoundly nihilistic assessment of middle class American society in the 1950s. Friends and spouses participate in various relationships without any sense of loyalty. Harry Allen, the main character has fallen head over heels in love with a recent girlfriend and tries to figure out how to get rid of his much older wife. His perception is that his wife is totally devoted to him, a divorce would be devastating and probably killing her with a poison would be a gentler solution. Quickly we learn that the mousy wife interpreted by Patricia Clarkson has a full blown relationship with a much younger man. Then, Harry Allen’s best friend, the suave Pierce Brosnan decides that he deserves more his friend’s girlfriend. In the end only a pet is poisoned while the humans continue their existence often in novel and improved relationships. The whole thing is well photographed and indeed raises serious doubts about the existence of God or any moral code. On Tubi. See more 04/07/2020 Slow, boring, predictable zoom camera to get you in moment, super vapid, heavy feminist, low key lesbos, just plain garbage. See more 08/23/2017 I went into this one looking for something along the lines of the Coen Brothers film The Man Who Wasn't There, but Lord was this just boring! The idea that a man wants out of his marriage so badly that he's willing to kill his wife is the stuff of many Film Noirs, but the execution here was just dull and un-engaging from start to finish. The performances are okay, if you want to watch some boring folks going about their lives with very little change by he time it wraps up. Rental? At best? See more 11/09/2015 Hyvät näyttelijät, tylsä leffa... (Suom. Married life - Avioelämää) See more 09/14/2014 I liked this movie, it wasn't what I expected. It has it's own unique charm. A bit drastic in some ways, but still good. See more 02/06/2014 The cast was perfect for this film. Almost forget the other movies and TV shows they have done. See more Read all reviews
Married Life

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Movie Info

Synopsis After many years of marriage, Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) falls in love with lovely Kay Nesbitt (Rachel McAdams). Harry plots to kill his wife, Pat (Patricia Clarkson), because he feels divorce would be too hard on her. Meanwhile, his roguish best friend, Richard (Pierce Brosnan), is also in love with Kay and would like nothing better than to steal her out from under Harry's nose.
Director
Ira Sachs
Producer
Sidney Kimmel, Jawal Nga, Steve Golin, Ira Sachs
Screenwriter
Oren Moverman, Ira Sachs
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
Firm Films, Anonymous Content
Rating
PG-13 (Some Thematic Elements|Scene of Sexuality)
Genre
Crime, Drama, Romance
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 7, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 12, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.5M
Runtime
1h 30m
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